Millions of individuals require emergency medical care in the U.S. each year. These individuals sometimes need medical care in locations where medical information is not readily available to emergency care workers. The availability of such data often means the difference between life and serious injury or death. Recent medications, potentially dangerous allergies and prior diagnoses can be very important background information when emergency treatment is required.
Medical identification tags are well known in the related art and some of these medical advisory tags display a personal identification number (PIN) and website address (e.g. US2005/021519A1 to Ghouri). Other patents and publications describe medical advisory tags or cards which are electronic storage devices (e.g. US2005/0121505A1). Some electronic ID devices provide information at two levels, one level for emergency care and another level for long-term care. Most of these electronic tags or cards are very fragile and require a special electronic reader, such as a laptop computer or a PDA.
Another type of medical identification tag is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,318 to Anthony wherein text and graphics are printed on microfilm attached to an ID card. The main drawbacks of this invention are that the microfilm is very fragile, and it is also very difficult to update medication information via microfilm when the patient's medications could be changing at monthly intervals. Will the card provider mail the individual a new ID card every month? This product would be very expensive if the card is expected to reveal accurate medication information.
Patent number U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,956 to Longo discloses a medical advisory tag with one or more telephone numbers printed on the tag revealing the tag wearer's home telephone number and other personal information. This invention also describes a different and more novel idea of dialing a specified telephone number, inputting additional numbers listed on the tag, and being automatically connected to a responsible person. No medical information is provided.
Despite the prior art of many different medical information systems, there are no information systems with accurate medication information that can be quickly accessed by a low-tech device like a cell phone or a “plain old telephone.” When an ambulance arrives at a rescue scene, the emergency workers may not have a computer or time to read a website. Homecare nurses would have the same problem of not having access to a computer.
Most people are unable to remember all of their medications and dosages. Furthermore, it is common for elderly individuals to receive medical care from several different specialists, who may not communicate with each other about prescribed medications. The specialists sometimes rely on the patient to supply the medication information to other interested parties, which is a bad idea if a patient is experiencing an early stage of dementia.
Accordingly, there is a need for a cost effective and easy to use system for compiling, maintaining and providing accurate medication and medical history information to emergency healthcare providers.